Moroccan fm renews morocco's adherence to UN framework agreement on Sahara
Moroccan minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Mohamed Benaissa, renewed in New York on Tuesday to The United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, Morocco's adherence to the UN draft framework agreement as a basis for negotiations.
The head of the Moroccan diplomacy who was received by Annan said Morocco is ready to cooperate with the United Nations secretary general, his personal envoy and the security council to reach a rapid and final political solution to the artificial conflict. Benaissa also hoped to start a frank and sincere dialogue with other parties to the issue.
Annan has proposed on Wednesday to the security council a two-month "technical extension" of the MINURSO (French acronym for the UN mission supervising the holding of a referendum in the Sahara), to give his special envoy, James Baker, additional time to carry on consultation with the parties.
The United Nations has been trying since 1990 to hold a referendum to give populations of the Sahara the opportunity to say whether they want to remain within Morocco, which has retrieved the territory in 1975 under the Madrid accords with Spain - the former colonial authority- and Mauritania, or split up as wished by the Algerian-backed Polisario guerilla movement.
